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Nearly a quarter million more people moved out of Los Angeles than moved in between 2010 and 2018.
- Several Western cities saw large parts of their population move away since the start of the decade.
- We found the 20 metro areas in the West with the most net outmigration between 2010 and 2018, adjusted by the size of the 2010 population.
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Overall, the Western part of the US has historically been a big destination for Americans seeking opportunity.
But not every part of the West has recently been benefiting from that historical trend.
Using data from the Census Bureau's Population Estimates program, we found the metropolitan areas located in the Western states with the most negative net migration between 2010 and 2018, adjusted by the size of the 2010 metro area population.
Net migration measures the number of people who moved into the metro area from some other part of the US or another country, minus the number of people who left the metro area over that period. That means the cities on our list saw many more people move out since 2010 than move in.
Here are the 20 Western cities with the most net outmigration as a share of the 2010 population: